


Hidden In Plain Sight

by Leelia



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, M/M, Vixx members as side characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-14 11:49:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18475645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leelia/pseuds/Leelia
Summary: One night, head boy Cha Hakyeon finds Lee Hongbin, Hogwarts star Quidditch player, crying in the dungeons. When Hakyeon beats Hongbin at Quidditch, the school expects them to become enemies - they become friends instead.





	Hidden In Plain Sight

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, this fic was written for this prompt: Gryffindor Hongbin/Slytherin Hakyeon HP AU, rival Quidditch Captains?  
> I wanted to write a Harry Potter au for ages, so I took this prompt but then couldn't figure out where exactly I want it to go. So I took my liberties with it, and I hope the prompter can enjoy this little fic even though I didn't take the second part literally.
> 
> This is not betaed by the way, so please bear with me *roars*

It's late when Hakyeon gets back to the Slytherin common room. Night patrols aren't his favourite part of being the head boy, but it can't be helped. It's a rather rare occurrence to find students on a nightly adventure through the castle anyway, or that's at least what Hakyeon has let the teachers think for his two years of being a prefect and now few weeks of being the head boy.

 

But when he stops in front of the common room and has already opened his mouth to say the password, he hears a faint whimper. Surprised, he looks around, but sees nothing. For a few seconds, he's overcome with an urge to not go after the sound, to just ignore it, but another sound, now a sob, makes him listen up once more. He can feel it stronger now, in his head, a suggestion to just leave it, and realises it must be magic. Someone is crying down there, trying to cast people off with a spell, and while it might have worked on any other student, Hakyeon is not head boy for nothing, so he breaks through the spell and walks down the dungeon corridor towards the sound.

 

He rounds a corner, and sees nothing at first, but when he blinks and looks again, he sees a boy sitting on the floor. Back to the wall, crouching, face in his hands. He's not full on crying, but then he sniffs, and groans. If Hakyeon wasn't head boy, he might leave him there to cry alone, but he sees it almost as a duty to help any student. His friends always tell him he's too nice for a Slytherin, but he couldn't care less.

 

He approaches determined, squatting down next to the boy.

 

“Hey”, he says softly, “you ok?”

 

The boy on the floor jumps, surprised, even though Hakyeon hadn't touched him on purpose to avoid startling him too much. The boy rubs his eyes before looking up. He's handsome. Big eyes, though they're a little red from crying, chiselled jaw, perfect nose, full lips, Hakyeon could go on. He also knows that when he's not sad, he has those very cute dimples when he smiles. In front of him is probably the last person he'd ever had expected to come to the dungeon for a cry at half an hour to midnight. Lee Hongbin is the school's little celebrity, after all.

 

“Yeah, m'fine.”, Lee Hongbin muffles. Then he registers who's sitting in front of him, probably recognising who it is and sitting up a little straighter.

 

“That charm works well”, Hakyeon grins. “Almost effective enough to turn me away. “

 

He stands up again, offers his hand to Hongbin. “But its late now, I'm about to head to sleep and so should you. I don't really punish students who wander late at night, but I wouldn't recommend it either, ok?”

 

Hongbin looks conflicted just for a second, but then he grasps Hakyeon's hand with a firm grip and pulls himself up. “Cha, right? You're the head boy.”

 

“Yup”, he grins. “That and a Slytherin, I'm apparently bad at being both”, he says with a chuckle. “Care for a cheer up charm?”

 

“Care for an forgetfulness charm?” Hongbin shoots back, but backtracking immediately, “But for real, please tell no one you found me here. I normally go somewhere else but the place was occupied with people doing... other things.”

 

With a half-arsed grin and raised eyebrows, he turns around, heading to the stairs up to the entry hall, before Hakyeon can say anything else. People doing... other things, huh. Hakyeon tends to treat those kind of students a little harsher, so the people Hongbin was referring to had been lucky for not being caught.

 

That night, Hakyeon finds it difficult to sleep. Lee Hongbin is a curious case. He seemingly has everything under control. Hongbin is the schools star Quidditch player, Gryffindor captain and keeper, already under contract to play for one of the best teams in the British Quidditch league after graduating Hogwarts. On top of that he also has great grades, seemingly sailing through all his classes and exams. His visuals do the rest of the job.

 

Hakyeon has never had the opportunity to get introduced to Hongbin personally, but of course Hongbin would know him, Hakyeon having played for the Slytherin Quidditch team on and off throughout most of his years at Hogwarts. He isn't nearly as good as Hongbin, but he can play every single position to jump in whenever someone on the Slytherin team can't play.

 

He's also had a small crush on Hongbin for a while. Hakyeon doesn't really know why, and its rather shallow anyway. Hongbin is handsome, and a little mysterious, being known for either being at the Quidditch grounds for playing Quidditch, in a classroom during lessons or at the great hall during meals. And he's literally invisible whenever he is not doing any of those things. Even other Gryffindors have said to barely never see him.

 

Is Hongbin's charm maybe strong enough to be invisible? This and the question and why he had been crying in the dungeons that night, occupy his mind for a long time before he finally manages to get some sleep.

 

*

 

At first, things continue how they used to be, Hakyeon being preoccupied with his friends and his head boy duties. But then slowly, he starts to notice Hongbin in places he had never seen him before. Sitting in an alcove along the corridor, beneath a tree reading a book, and, most surprisingly, apparently communicating with the giant squid in the giant lake through weird hand gestures and body contortions. And all this, while nobody seems to notice him, leaving him alone and giving him a kind of freedom he never has when not using his weird charm, when being visible with his friends and the admirers that seemed to swarm around him.

 

Hakyeon has a lot of fun then, trying to get Hongbin's attention and waving or winking, signalling that he can see him. And Hongbin seems to be a little embarrassed about it, and promptly falls down when Hakyeon catches him communicating with the giant squid. And sometimes Hakyeon's friends are confused that he would wave to apparently no one, and while he knows he should keep it down as to not become suspicious, he is filled with a giddiness, excited to know this little secret about Lee Hongbin.

 

However, they still do not interact directly, and Hakyeon never finds Hongbin on his nightly patrol again. He is left thinking about him all the time though, seeing him that often all around the castle. What he thinks about less and less though is how Hongbin had cried. He never seems to look especially sad when hiding in plain sight from all the students, rather, he looks calm and content, and Hakyeon thinks whatever made him cry that night was either not that bad, or Hongbin was just good at composing himself.

 

Like that, time flies, a few weeks pass. Now almost 2 month into the school year, things have been going exactly how one would expect seventh year to go. The teachers start to talk about NEWTs way too early, and seem to think they need to give huge homework assignments to the students. So, while everyone is surrounded by school work, another thing that starts is the Quidditch season. While Hakyeon doesn't go to all the practises, he does help train a new very promising third year chaser, and tries to step his seeker game up.

 

From then on, he sees Hongbin even more often, not veiled by his charm however, strutting confidently up to the Quidditch training grounds when the Slytherin team is practising, demanding they leave so that his team can start on time. Hakyeon can't blame him for that, its difficult to find a schedule where everyone on the team is free to practise, and it must be even more stressful for a captain.

 

On the morning of the first match, Hakyeon feels excited. They are starting the season off with a bang, Gryffindor against Slytherin, and while there is not as much tension between those two houses as in the past, things are different when it comes to Quidditch. Both houses had been head to head the last few years, and Hakyeon had only once had the pleasure to win the cup when he joined the team in his third year, Gryffindor starting their winning streak as soon as Hongbin had become team captain in their fourth year.

 

It's the Saturday on the first week of November, the weather chilly, but the mood is up when the team has their breakfast in the great hall. Everyone is well and in top form, so it doesn't seem like Hakyeon will play, but he is so integrated that he does everything with them, toasting on a great season start with orange juice, then going down to the Quidditch field two hours later, having a pep talk from the captain, calm Taekwoon, good friend of Hakyeon, who looks all scary but Hakyeon knows the right way to squish him and make him smile widely. They get joined by Jaewhan, who doesn't play Quidditch himself, but with his loud and quirky personality, he fits his role as commentator so much better. As a fellow Slytherin, he has his difficulties staying neutral when commenting though.

 

So, Hakyeon watches from the ground when his team mates mount their brooms, hears the referee's whistle, sees them take off and disperse in the air. Sees how Lee Hongbin assumes his place in front of the goal hoops, how Taekwoon zooms from player to player with his beater bat in his hand. Then the balls are released and Jaewhan starts talking into his megaphone.

 

"Aaand we're officially starting the first match of this season! Gryffindor against Slytherin it is, so we're definitely in for a treat, ladies and gentlemen. Both teams are in top form, or so I hear. Of course we're very excited to see how Gryffindors captain Lee will hold himself, last season he only failed to hold five Quaffles, hear that, five! Over three matches! But Slytherin captain Jung looks ready as well, ready to hit some Bludgers, or maybe Gryffindors, who knows."

 

Jaewhan's blabber goes on, narrating how the first few minutes of the game happen event less, Hongbin easily holding the first attempt to score by a Slytherin while the Slytherin keeper also holds an attempt, however with much more difficulty.

 

The game goes on, Slytherin falling behind by 10, 20, 30 points, the team knowing that the only real chance they have at winning is if their seeker can catch the snitch fast enough. But both of the seekers are still flying circles like eagles a few metres above where the game happens. By the looks of it, no one of the two has sighted the snitch yet, but Hakyeon hopes it will happen soon. Just then, their new chaser manages to score a goal, but the Gryffindors score some more, and after the game has been going on for half an hour, Gryffindor leads with 100 to 10 points.

 

Hakyeon is getting a little frustrated, itching to mount his broom and do something himself, when the Slytherin seeker suddenly swoops towards the ground, the crowd cheering and Jaewhan yelling into his megaphone. But before anyone can really get excited, instead of catching the snitch triumphantly, the seeker crashes into the ground to everyone's shock, not getting up any more.

 

The game has to come to a break and it gets clear that the seeker has to be brought to the hospital wing and Hakyeon grabs his broom with a sigh. That's not how he had wanted to get to play, but he had practised being a seeker specifically, and now he gets kind of excited to try it out. He gets up on his broom and takes off together with his team member who had landed, shooting an excited grin towards Taekwoon and then assuming his position as a seeker above the other players.

 

"And now, playing for the Slytherin team is Cha Hakyeon, beloved head boy and that one damn player who can seemingly play any position when it comes to Quidditch. Cha has never been a set team member, but he has played in few games, helping win Slytherin the cup a few years ago. But he has never played against Gryffindor, and never in the position of the seeker. "

 

Hakyeon doesn't completely register Jaewhan's commenting the game, as he starts observing the Quidditch field closely. It feels like he spots something shiny one or two times, but the snitch always disappears as fast as it appears. Another fifteen minutes pass, and while Hakyeon had been very busy concentrating, he hadn't really realised what else happened in the game, when he suddenly hears Jaehwan's voice again.

 

"And Gryffindor's chaser scores once again, they now are leading by 150 points. Should Cha catch the snitch now, the game would end in a tie, so Slytherin better catch up and score some points. But it seems like the snitch hasn't been sighted yet, so who knows how this whole match could end. But if Gryffindors scores some more now, Slytherin might as well give up if they can't score as well."

 

Hakyeon is surprised that it happened so fast, but Jaewhan's words are true. If Gryffindor extends their lead even more, Slytherin can forget winning altogether. They will never be able to catch up. So catching the snitch now and getting the tie might be the best solution, even though he had wanted to win very bad. He suddenly remembers that playing against Gryffindor means playing against Lee Hongbin, and really, there he is, flying around his hoops confidently, zooming in on the Slytherin chasers who are advancing once again, but who had only scored one time so far. And then, he realises, just a few metres above Hongbin's head there it is, the snitch. Nobody seems to notice it, and Hakyeon suddenly realises how his team might get to win this match after all.

 

Time to be a Slytherin. Instead of flying directly towards the snitch, he flies a little lower, exactly towards Hongbin, who has to dodge and while he does that, he is caught off guard by one of Slytherin's chasers, who scores a goal just seconds before Hakyeon swoops up and catches the snitch. He did it. After a fraction of a second where everything is silent, people start roaring, cheering, booing.

 

"HE DID IT", he hears Jaewhan roaring, "He really did that. Startling Lee into loosing focus so that his teammate can score a goal, then immediately catching the snitch. Cha wins Slytherin the first match of the season with a very Slytherin move, I dare say. Slytherin wins with 170 to 160 points and take the lead in this school years Quidditch cup!"

 

After that things happen in a blur, Hakyeon flies to the ground, snitch securely in his hand, gets buried under his teammates, and angry stares from the Gryffindors, but he doesn't care, he won the match. Slytherin celebrates the whole afternoon, way into the evening, and Hakyeon can't really feel any remorse.

 

The next few weeks, Hakyeon still spots Hongbin very often, although Hongbin doesn't seem to be very happy to see him. Hakyeon understands, even though he hadn't committed a foul, it still had been a rather cunning tactic. From time to time he feels bad about it, but more so because he is concerned about his image as head boy. And while days after the match, he still gets random people clapping his back and telling him how great he was, there are also the other voices, mostly from Gryffindor, that condemn him for his play. It gets decidedly more difficult to tell the Gryffindor students off, and while he doesn't want to, he more and more has to retort to subtracting house points, which makes the Gryffindors dislike him even more.

 

Luckily, two weeks later the next match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw takes place, which gives the students another topic to talk about.

 

*

 

Its early December when he gets to talk to Hongbin again, once again not in a manner he would have expected. It is a late night patrol, and he is startled by someone joining him at his side, touching his shoulder.

 

"Can we talk?" Lee's voice says, ripping Hakyeon out of his deep thoughts about some very dark curses they had gone through in defence against the dark arts, of which he was sure they would appear in the NEWTs.

 

"Is it more important than the avoidance or identification of self composed blood curses?", he asks with raised eyebrows, just to erupt in a fit of giggles when he sees Hongbin's confused face.

 

"Ah", he laughs, "don't worry, that's just what we discussed in defence against the dark arts today. Of course you can talk to me, I'm the head boy that's my job."

 

"Well, I hoped you would talk to me", Hongbin retorts. "Since its about a topic that seems to be important to you, at least it is very so to me."

 

Could only be one thing: "Quidditch?"

 

"Yup", Hongbin says, and the two continue walking in the same direction Hakyeon had been going, just having finished the fourth floor and starting on checking the third floor. "See, I was quite mad about how you managed to beat us at first, but in the end I realised that it was still fair play and that I can't blame you for wanting to win. Anyway, I'm sorry that my teammates and all the Gryffindors have been giving you a bad time."

 

Its not what Hakyeon had been expecting, but he is glad that Hongbin sees it like that, and he lets him know it. But he also feels like apologising to Hongbin for startling him in that way, for making them almost crash into each other, so he does. But he is surprised another time, when Hongbin simply shakes it off.

 

"Ah, never mind", he says, "You know, it got me to realise how good you are at Quidditch. You've never even been a set member of the team, yet you won your team a game while you played as seeker for the first time. And when I remember back, it looked like you were actually training that new chaser. I feel like even though everyone says I'm so good at Quidditch, I still could learn a lot from y-"

 

Hakyeon must have blushed because of all the praise. He doesn't see himself as that good, doesn't deserve to be admired by one Lee Hongbin. But then, Hongbin disappears mid-sentence, and Hakyeon realises its because a professor had been coming their way.

 

"Good evening, professor", he greets, sending him a polite smile.

 

"Evening Cha, I hope the patrol has been going well? No naughty students around?"

 

"Everything under control, professor", Hakyeon replies, hoping he won't notice Hongbin. Granted its dark in the castle and Hakyeon had been relying on lumos to find his way, he can even feel Hongbin's charm at the back of his mind telling him to ignore, to go on, to not even think of the possibility that someone might be there. But who knew how perceptive a professor could be. But then he leaves, telling Hakyeon to wrap up early and catch some sleep, and he breathes a little easier again, and feels Hongbin joining him again.

 

"Early night, you heard him", Hakyeon says to him. "You should go back to your common room as well", but hesitates, addressing Hongbin again. "If you wanna chat more, I'm up to it anytime."

 

He's not sure if Hongbin actually wants to, but he is met with an enthusiastic smile. "Let's, I don't have that many people to talk to who aren't sucking up to me. I'll teach you the charm to distract people, so we can hang out literally anywhere!"

 

So they wish each other good night, but like last time, Hakyeon has trouble sleeping, thinking about how nice and down to earth Hongbin had been. Even more, he is excited about learning how Hongbin could walk the castle undetected.

 

*

 

Hakyeon doesn't really know, how to contact Hongbin so they can hang out, but that problem gets solved a few nights later, when Hakyeon is just at the start of his patrol, starting at the seventh floor working downwards. But he doesn't get far, just as he passes the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy getting clubbed down by some trolls, he is getting pulled inside a door he had never seen before, and could have sworn wasn't there a minute ago.

 

When he looks around, he finds himself in a not very big, but cosy looking room. It is dimly lit by a fireplace, however, everything is pink, the bed in the corner, the two armchairs that face the fireplace, even the flames are pink.

 

"Gross", he hears a voice next to him that undoubtedly belongs to Hongbin. "Room thought I'm trying to romance you or something". He looks very concentrated for a few seconds, then the flames change back to red, the armchairs move farther away from the fire so that a table that appears out of thin air fits there, the bed disappears while the space gets a little bigger and some bookshelves appear. More so, there's some very bright, muggle like lamps appearing on the ceiling.

 

After a few seconds, Hongbin starts giggling, and Hakyeon remembers to shut his mouth that must have hanged open in awe. "How the fuck did that happen?", he asks incredulous. "That room is cool man, how did I never know of it?"

 

He gets seated on a still pink armchair after Hongbin gestures for him to do so. It's very comfortable, and makes him forget the voice at the back of his mind that nags him for neglecting his head boy duties.

 

"This room is called Room of Requirement", Hongbin starts explaining then. "Not many people know of it, because it only appears if you, well, require a room for a certain purpose. I stumbled upon it when I was looking for a room to cry in peace a few years ago, but really, not many people know of it".

 

He leans back, shoots Hakyeon a happy grin, but then seems to remember something not so pleasant and twists his face into a grimace. "Unfortunately this very nasty couple found this room a few months ago, so now I never know what I could stumble into. They fuck for ages, man", he says with an annoyed groan.

 

Hakyeon is literally amazed. He never knew a room like this could even exist, and honestly wishes he had found it earlier. Not that he can blame Hongbin for being grossed out at it, but it does seem like a good place to hook up. Or maybe hide something. Have secret meetings and stuff like that. Basically what they are doing right now. Admittedly, he's a little giddy about it. Alone in a room with Lee Hongbin, who he still has his little crush on, about to get to know each other and exchange spells. However, he wonders about another thing.

 

"So, the room can just change? How did you do that earlier?", he asks curiously.

 

"Just wish for it", Hongbin laughs, then looks very concentrated for a few seconds again and then his armchair abruptly changes into Gryffindor colours. He grins proudly. "Just Like that!"

 

So Hakyeon tries it, wishing that his armchair would turn into Slytherin colours, and just like that, it happens. He finds a twinkle in Hongbin's eyes when he turns towards him with a proud grin on his own face and they laugh about the wonders of this room for a while. It really is amazing how surprised he could get by magic once again, even though it has been in his life since he was born.

 

"Let's talk business then", Hongbin says a little more seriously after they calmed down again. "I showed you this room, and I'm about to show you the charm that makes me invisible, what do I get in return?"

 

Its a valid question, and Hakyeon thinks he really could do something for him in return. To any other student he would have offered tutoring them, but Hongbin is already bright enough and probably doesn't need it. It has to be some special skill or spell, and that's when it hits him. Hakyeon has been dancing for ages, namely from when he was four until he was eleven, for he couldn't take classes while being at Hogwarts, but he always makes sure to take some classes during summer break.

 

"Do you dance?", he asks, just to get a confused look from Hongbin, and decides to not let him wait and elaborates more. "I've basically been doing magical ballet since I could walk, and there's some cool steps that let you levitate for several seconds or like, propel you like 3 metres into the air. I could try to teach you something like that."

 

Hongbin thinks for a while, then "Show me some", he asks, looking more and more curious. So Hakyeon wishes for a higher ceiling, some more space and mirrors, and promptly one side of the room starts looking like a ballet studio. He gets up, stretches a little. He grins in Hongbin's general direction, then looks at himself in the mirrors and start concentrating. He starts a routine, a few basic steps, then diving right into the moves, first standing on his toes and doing very fast steps, until he starts levitating half a meter above ground, then going down after twenty seconds just to then take a lunge three metres up into the air while doing three pirouettes. When he lands, he bows into Hongbin's direction with a content grin. He isn't as out of shape as he had thought.

 

He is met with excited applause when he gets back to the armchairs and wishes the room back to before. Sitting down, he assures that the moves should be achievable by someone who can't dance, they're just not gonna look very graceful. But Hongbin seems to be appeased, so they start with the lesson. At first, Hongbin starts by explaining his spell. He learns that it works much like an invisibility cloak, just that the spells are used on the person directly. It's a combination of a disillusionment charm and a bedazzling hex, and doesn't really hide the appearance of a person per se, rather influences the person looking at the hidden object or person, by suggesting to just looks somewhere else. So while it doesn't make one invisible, people just don't care to notice.

 

Hakyeon takes the information in eagerly, but when it comes to the practical part, Hongbin can't do more than telling him how to cast the spells on himself, since it wouldn't work to practise with Hongbin as he already knows that Hakyeon is there. So the conversation changes afterwards, and they start talking about Quidditch, Hongbin first expressing his admiration for Hakyeon's skills but then going on to talk about tactics and team building, but not without Hongbin asking eagerly about how it is to change between playing different positions.

 

They go on for a few hours, when Hakyeon realises that he still should be on his patrol, so they decide that Hakyeon would try his spell on a few students and should it work, he'd join Hongbin hanging out somewhere in the castle.

 

They exit the room saying goodbye, while the door to the Room of Requirements simply disappears behind them. When Hakyeon gets to the fifth floor, he sees some first years wandering the corridors, a perfect target to practice. He casts the charms on himself and walks straight past them, and it works, probably mostly because they're first years though. A few metres after he passed them he ends the charms quickly and detours, scolding the nightly explorers and sends them back straight to their common room. He himself finishes his patrol not long afterwards, rushed but with an excited spring in his step.

 

*

 

As always, Hakyeon passes Hongbin often the next few days, but he is always with his friends and not sure if he should just sneak away, not even sure if it would work on them. Taekwoon is almost as gifted as him, and Jaewhan is not as stupid as he likes other people to think. So instead, Hakyeon often just shrugs his shoulders and shoots a side eye towards his friends, and hopes Hongbin will understand what he means with it.

 

At night however, he practises during patrol whenever he sees students wandering the corridor. He finds it to be pretty funny, pretending to not be there and seeing how the students think they're safe and can go on unnoticed. It might be a little cruel, but he often thinks to himself that he is just doing his job.

 

Exactly a week after he has met Hongbin, Hakyeon still hasn't joined him, but he knows that he has gotten better at charming himself. And again, when he patrols the seventh floor, and gets pulled inside the Room of Requirements, he is not even surprised. The room starts out as it had last time, with pink furniture all over, just to be, again, changed as fast as possible by Hongbin.

 

Hakyeon gets pulled towards the armchair and Hongbin starts asking about his progress. Hakyeon proceeds to tell him all about how he had been scaring students during patrol, and that he thinks he 's gotten better, the only students he hasn't tried it on yet being sixth and seventh years. After some tips from Hongbin, they continue their discussion about Quidditch from last time, forgetting the time again.

 

When they part, Hakyeon tells Hongbin that he won't be on patrol for the next few weeks, as he has to take on extra duties overseeing all the Christmas preparation and will get a break from patrolling in exchange. He isn't the biggest fan of Christmas, but he will admit that the atmosphere during Christmas in Hogwarts is something very special.

 

However, with two essays due before Christmas, he can't solely concentrate on the preparations. So, after a Saturday morning of hard work, he figures he might as well go to the library to start his research. He doesn't go there to work often any more, often finding it more practical to study in his dorm.

 

Who he doesn't expect to find inside the library is Hongbin. He's sitting in a corner where Hakyeon wouldn't even have found him, hadn't he been looking for a particular book. He thinks to himself, he might as well try it then, so he casts the charms on himself and joins Hongbin where he is studying. Hongbin just looks up, smiling warmly when he realises who just joined him. They don't talk much, as Hongbin looks just as busy as Hakyeon is. But halfway through, they realise that they seem to work on similar topics, which leads them to an interesting conversation about luck bringing potions.

 

Just to be be interrupt abruptly by two male students, rushing behind a shelf to start snogging. To Hakyeon's shock, one of them is Jaewhan, while Hongbin tells him very amusedly that the other person is his "unfortunately very stupid best friend Wonsik". After a good session of graphic kissing and lewd noises, the two part giggling, and walk away holding hands, not noticing neither Hongbin nor Hakyeon. Not that he had wanted to see his friend like that. While Hongbin mimics retching Hakyeon thinks to himself, that, well, at least his charm had worked.

 

After that, Hakyeon often sneaks away from his friends to hang out with Hongbin, invisibly in plain sight. Their conversations start to extend to talking about school, classes and friends. Hakyeon learns more about Hongbin's friends, which are primarily Wonsik who he had seen sucking faces with his own best friend just days ago, and Hyuk, who is the only person besides Hakyeon who knows about Hongbin's skill. Hyuk, who is apparently the mastermind behind most of the unsolved pranks Hakyeon has encountered. He also manages to get out of Hongbin, that many of those pranks wouldn't have worked hadn't Hongbin helped out. Hakyeon gets Hongbin to point Hyuk out to him, and he makes sure to deduct a few extra points the next time he catches him doing something that goes against the school rules.

 

*

 

It's the day before Christmas when Hakyeon wanders the seventh floor by coincidence, recognising the spot where the Room of Requirements was, and gets surprised when he actually sees the door. So, someone must be inside. His curiosity gets to him, so he opens the door gingerly. The room is in Hongbin's usual setup, so Hakyeon steps in, wondering why he would be here. Most students will leave for the holidays in less than an hour, so Hongbin should be preparing. But here he is, sitting in his armchair, reading a book Hakyeon doesn't recognise.

 

"Hi there", he says to get Hongbin's attention, who turns around surprised. As soon as Hongbin sees him, the room changes once again to its pink interior. He reacts with a blush and changes the room as fast as possible.

 

"Aren't you going home?", Hakyeon wonders as he sits down in the armchair next to Hongbin's. "People leave in less than an hour. In fact, I'll have to leave soon, to see them off."

 

"Nah. Parents, trouble", Hongbin murmurs and proceeds to read. Not really knowing what to do about Hongbin's seemingly bad mood, he realises he will have to leave him there to sulk. But as he stays at Hogwarts himself, he will have enough time during the break to talk to Hongbin about it. Maybe his family problems have even been the reason why he had seen him crying in the dungeons now so many weeks ago?

 

Wordless, he tries to convey his sympathy by squeezing Honbin's shoulder and leaves the room again. Soon after, he has overseen the students and some teachers leave for the holidays, but when he returns to the seventh floor, the door to the Room of Requirements, and with it Hongbin, is gone.

 

On Christmas day, he finds a pile of presents at the foot of his bed, going through them with fond thoughts of his friends who went home, and of his family, who he would have loved to see, hadn't he preferred to stay at Hogwarts during the holidays. To his surprise, he finds a little present containing an animated drawing of himself on a broom catching a snitch with the caption "The Quidditch prodigy". It is not signed, but somehow Hakyeon thinks it might be from Hongbin. Afterwards, he spends the day with the few Slytherin students who had stayed behind, some of them being in awe of being able to spend time with the head boy and Quidditch player.

 

In the evening, they have dinner on one big table with all the professors and the headmistress, and Hongbin seems surprised when Hakyeon chooses to sit next to him. After all, while they had hung out all over Hogwarts, they never had done so visibly. Hongbin also seems to be sulking a little still, but after Hakyeon coerces him to open a wizarding cracker together, which contains an awful reindeer headband, that Hongbin agrees to wear with a lot of grumbling, he seems to cheer up a little. In the span of the evening, they converse with many different people, even with some professors, but whenever there's a lull in conversation, they automatically turn towards each other.

 

When they part, they are stuffed full of good food and are very content, and Hakyeon is happy to hear it when Hongbin suggest to meet outside the next day. It had snowed the whole day, so he hopes that they can have a lot of fun in the snow the next day.

 

And indeed, there is even more snow the next day, so they engage in a brutal snowball war, getting joined halfway by the young herbology professor they had chatted to last evening.

 

And during the next few days, they always hang out, and chat, they sit next to each other during meals. They also don't really bother hiding since there's not many students. Both of them are kinda famous at the school and have never openly hung out before, and most people must think they're rivals after what had happened at the last Quidditch match. But the students get used to it after a while, and some of the professor must have already seen them despite their disguise earlier.

 

Hakyeon has a lot of fun. Hongbin is fun. Hakyeon likes him more and more, and his crush grows into even more after he knows that Hongbin has a nice personality beside the looks. But it gets clearer the longer Hakyeon knows him, that there is something that bothers Hongbin. Something he may even have never told anyone. After all, Hakyeon has found him crying in the dungeons, and that one time Hongbin said something about him needing a place to cry in peace.

 

Hakyeon doesn't know if he should pry. He is curious and wants to get to know him better, and maybe be there for him or even help him with his problems. But then it seems like Hongbin hasn't told his friends, and even though he has admitted to Hakyeon that he doesn't hang out with them outside of classes or meals, he must still be very good friends and trust them, he has known them for almost seven years after all.

 

What Hakyeon also finds out about him, is that Hongbin tends to be very insecure. He doesn't seem to think people actually like him, or that he doesn't deserve it. He doesn't think people would like him wasn't he so good at Quidditch. He doesn't think his classmates would like him, weren't they forced to live in the same dorm.

 

And Hakyeon is scared that Hongbin thinks of him the same and can't see how much Hakyeon likes him.

 

The remaining students are allowed to go to Hogsmeade on new years eve, and Hakyeon asks Hongbin if he'd like to come.

 

There's still a lot of snow but they walk to Hogsmeade anyway. The reason Hakyeon wanted to come here is that he wants to get a late Christmas present for Hongbin. He hasn't asked if the little drawing is from him, but even if its not, he wants to buy him something. They visit Zonko's joke shop and Honeydukes first, but Hakyeon doesn't really know what he should get for Hongbin. He sees Hongbin stock up on some prank material, when asked, he admits that he forgot to buy presents for his friend Hyuk. Well, at least Hakyeon is not the only one, he thinks.

 

They have lunch at the three broomsticks afterwards, brainstorming what Hongbin could get for his other friend, Wonsik. They go through several lame ideas, when Hakyeon remembers that one time in the library.

 

"Let's just get them a gift card for Madame Puddifoots Tea Shop. They can go on a terribly cute date or something", he blurts out. Hongbin's face grimaces at that, but somehow seems to admit that its a good idea.

 

"But I'm not going near anywhere there. Romance is gross", he mumbles and so they decide that they will slit up and Hakyeon will get that gift card while Hongbin waits for him at Spintwitches Sporting Needs, witch carries a lot of nice Quidditch equipment.

 

And when Hakyeon sets foot into Madame Puddifoots Tea Shop he kinda wishes he could take Hongbin there for a date too. Pity that Hongbin seems to be the least romantic person ever. But it does look cosy and so cute, and Hakyeon can't help but blush a little, imagining him and Hongbin actually sitting there. Maybe sipping tea and having some sweet cake, maybe even holding hands.

 

But he has to force himself to forget that fantasy again, when he joins Hongbin in the sports shop later. He finds Hongbin looking at a very fine pair of keepers gloves, seemingly deep in contemplation whether he should buy them or not. "What's the matter? They look really damn fine", Hakyeon asks when Hongbin keeps considering while looking at other things. He looks really torn as well. "They're also damn expensive. I can't really afford it", he admits a little later. Hakyeon comes from a rather old and well enough off wizard family so that he never has to worry if he can afford something or not.

 

What an opportunity, Hakyeon suddenly realises. "I'll buy them for you. Late Christmas present", he offers. But Hongbin refuses, until Hakyeon offers to split costs at least. He isn't sure if he really should have pressed so hard, but when they walk out of the shop, gloves in Hongbin's hands, he knows he is trying to hide a very happy smile.

 

They get some butterbeer to take back to Hogwarts, and drink it in the Room of Requirements afterwards. Once again, the room is fully pink when they enter which makes Hongbin mumble that it might be broken or something, and they sit down in front of the fire after changing the room to Hongbin's favourite set up again.

 

They don't talk much then, just sitting in front of the fire sipping their butterbeers. Its comfortable, and the silence is not awkward or anything, it is much rather very agreeable.

 

Then Hongbin sighs deeply, making Hakyeon jump and look at him.

 

"What?" Hongbin asks, but then sighs again. "I just really miss my grandmother during this time of the year", he admits after a while.

 

"Your grandmother?"

 

"Yeah, it's her place I go to during summer holidays. But her health is not the best any more, so I haven't been able to go back over Christmas the last few years."

 

"Oh, I'm sorry", Hakyeon responds, not really knowing what to say to that. He wants to ask more, but he doesn't want to inquire more.

 

"It's ok, I just miss her a lot. But its really fine, its not like she's on her deathbed. "

 

"I'm glad. But what about your parents? Can't you go to see them?", he asks, can't help his curiosity.

 

Hongbin contemplates for a while, looking at Hakyeon in deep thoughts, then "fuck it, you already saw me cry, right?" he says. "I don't have a very happy relationship with my parents. My mother comes from a pureblood family, but she basically has a fetish for muggles or something. Dates one after the other, while my father is trapped in what looks like a perfectly happy marriage to her parents. Didn't even want me, my mother lied about magical contraception and my father was forced to marry her after knocking her up."

 

"Shit", Hakyeon can't help but exclaim at what he just heard. "Damn, that's shitty man." He looks over, and is that a tear running down Hongbin's cheek? "Shit shit shit", he exclaims even more. "Come here", he says, changing the armchairs to a couch so they fit next to each over. Then, he scoots over, taking Hongbin into his arms.

 

Hongbin collapses in his arms, sniffing a little but seemingly trying to hold himself together.

 

"I'm not crying", he says defiantly after a few minutes. "This is also not a hug. I don't do hugs and crying."

 

"Sure", Hakyeon says with a smile.

 

"Yup", Hongbin persists. "There's just water coming out of my eyes and this is a... a mutual limb enclosure."

 

And "Sure", Hakyeon assures him once again, starting to laugh. "This can be anything you want."

 

There's another nice meal in the great hall in the evening, and they light fireworks over the great lake at midnight. The small group of students and professors who remain at Hogwarts go up the astronomy tower to watch. The firework is grand and breathtaking.

 

Halfway through it, Hakyeon suddenly feels Hongbin shyly putting his arm around his waist. After all, maybe he wants this to be the same thing as Hakyeon does.

 

*

 

However, things go back to normal after the holidays end and all the students get back to Hogwarts. There's even more homework and studying, and Hakyeon also has to get back to doing patrols. Instead of getting pulled into the Room of Requirements when he is supposed to do his patrols, he asks Hongbin to just schedule when to hang out first, because time does get really sparse. And when Quidditch practise starts again, there's even less time. They start meeting up for studying in the library mostly, however, using the disillusionment charm again, now that the castle is full of students again.

 

Of course the students who had seen them together during the holidays had snitched, but Hakyeon is surprised when it doesn't turn into a big issue. There's mostly two opinions, one is that they probably hung out for convenience, since there weren't any of their friends present, and that they would get back to disliking each other as soon as Quidditch season would start again. The other opinion, again much to Hakyeon's surprise was, that people seemed to believe that the both of them would actually match well, and that seeing a friendship that would connect Slytherin and Gryffindor like this could be a great thing.

 

But their friendship doesn't progress much, it seems at first. Hongbin has opened up towards Hakyeon a great deal during the holidays, but nowadays he doesn't even have time to be sad any more. They talk about more trivial things, help each other proof reading essays or studying together. One time Hakyeon even writes half an essay for Hongbin, because he realises he can't get to Quidditch practise on time if he concentrates on that essay.

 

When Hakyeon agrees to help him that way, that evening Hongbin leaves him with a "Thanks" and a side hug, that leaves Hakyeon giddy for the whole evening. Next time they see each other, he insists that he can't remember to ever having hugged Hakyeon, but he is all warm smiles and steals some candy into Hakyeon's bag, that Hakyeon has just confessed a few days earlier to be a little addicted to.

 

After that, Hongbin gets a lot more touchy, much to Hakyeon's surprise. He lets his hand linger on his arm or waist, sometimes greets him by clapping his back or almost suffocating him by wrapping an arm around his neck. Of course the latter is not Hakyeon's favourite, but it allows him to wrestle back from time to time as well.

 

When February comes around, they decide to gather their friends together to not only introduce them to each other, but mostly to squeeze Jaewhan and Wonsik out about their relationship. They have decided a while back that they best give them that Christmas gift a little too late for Christmas, but just on time for valentines day.

 

Both of them decide to bring their friends up to the seventh floor so that they can meet in front of the Room of Requirements. They also plan to let the room do its thing, which is apparently still welcoming them furnished in all pink, however it seem to know there are more people coming, so there is a little more space when they enter.

 

Both sets of friends seem to be a little confused when they are ushered into the room without much words from neither Hakyeon's nor Hongbin's side.

 

"Okay", Hongbin starts then. "These are my useless friends, Wonsik and Hyuk", he says, while pointing at them. "They're a little annoying but they grew on me. Like a rash or something."

 

Which elicits an offended gasp from Wonsik and an I'll-pay-you-back-bitch frown from Hyuk.

 

How did they even get the ridiculous idea to introduce their friends that way, Hakyeon thinks to himself.

 

So to not confuse their friends even more, Hakyeon introduces Taekwoon and Jaewhan as fast as possible, so that he can finally explain why they're there.

 

"So basically, Hongbin and I became friends over that last few months and we wanted to let you know", he says, which gets mixed reactions, from overdramatic gasping from Jaewhan to excited screaming from Wonsik.

 

"So when is the wedding?", asks Wonsik which gets him an annoyed slap from Hongbin.

 

"I think that's a thing I should ask you", Hongbin claps back. "Don't think we didn't see you, snogging with Jaewhan when you thought no ones looking. I even have a little suspicion that it was you two I heard fucking in this exact room here."

 

The two get offended first, but then admit soon, that they, indeed, have been seeing each other for a while now. They deny being friends though and say its all very casual.

At that, Hakyeon gets discouraged about that valentines day date they had planned for the both of them. With a short questioning look towards Hongbin, it is decided that they won't tell them about it yet, and do some private investigating first.

 

They, however, get their friends to chat to each other for a while afterwards. They explain how the room works, which leads to some shenanigans, and they also admit that they had been using disillusionment charms to stay invincible towards other students. With a smug grin, Hyuk tells them that he knew, which in hindsight makes sense to Hakyeon, since Hyuk had already known about Hongbin's ability.

 

They let Taekwoon and Hyuk into the secret of said planned date later. Taekwoon immediately informs Hakyeon that he has caught Jaewhan in various states of lovesickness, and that there is a possibility he might have caught him staring at a students ass, which might have been Wonsik's. Hongbin can announce shortly after that, that Wonsik, after being interrogated under threat of Hyuk replacing his snacks with dupes that make you fart every other minute for ten hours, has admitted to being head over heels in love with Jaewhan, but being scared that his feelings are not reciprocated.

 

So the date is still on. The day before valentines day, Hakyeon finds Jaewhan in the dorm, staring off into the distance.

 

Hakyeon charges, then jumping straight on top of him. He has a mission after all. "How's my favourite Quidditch commentator?", he asks while smothering him.

 

He gets everything out of him, that evening. Jaewhan likes Wonsik too, but is too scared to do anything, and on top of that, he thinks that Wonsik already has a valentines date with someone else. He might also throw a little tantrum, about how well he treats Wonsik, about how Wonsik deserves exactly him and his great lips, and about how he wants to touch Wonsik's ass in public so that everyone can see who said ass belongs to.

 

Hakyeon listens to it all patiently, hugs Jaewhan through all his wining, until its time for the final blow.

 

"Well, I can tell you a secret. I know that Jaewhan doesn't have a valentine. He asked Hongbin to ask me to ask you if you want to go on a date with him tomorrow."

 

"WHAT?", screeches Jaewhan. And Hakyeon is concerned for his ears, yes, but even more happy for his friend. He cuddles him closer, and assures him that yes, Wonsik really wants to go on that date with him, and no one else. What he doesn't tell him of course, is that at the same time, Hongbin is doing the exactly same in the Gryffindor dorm: telling Wonsik that Jaewhan has asked for him to be his date.

 

Since love and all that is gross, Hongbin's words, they don't go sneaking after them during their date. Hakyeon and Hongbin do accompany them to Hogsmeade though but leave them to each other afterwards. What they do, however, is grab a butterbeer in the three broomsticks inn, getting joined by Taekwoon and Hyuk a little later, who, on the contrary, actually had insisted on spying on them. They report that the two had started making out even before getting to Madame Puddifoots Tea House, so everything's probably fine.

 

In hindsight, getting those two together might have not been a good idea. That's what Hongbin says every single time they find them making out across the whole castle in every thinkable place (And also unthinkable place). But Hakyeon disagrees. Because they start hanging out as a group, and while being alone with Hongbin is fun, it is also nice to get to know him all over, by seeing how he's treating his friends. His words may be rough and mean sometimes, but Hakyeon can see with how much love and admiration he treats them.

 

*

 

In the third week of February, Slytherin plays against Ravenclaw, and in the first week of march, Gryffindor will play against Hufflepuff. Hongbin is very on edge the day before. He tells Hakyeon, that he is nervous they might not do well after they lost to Slytherin. That day, Hongbin keeps practise short so that his team won't overdo it, so the two meet up in the Room of Requirement again, and Hakyeon makes his mind up, he wants to help Hongbin forget his stress a little. Not that he has a reason to be stressed in the first places, in Hakyeon's opinion.

 

So, determined to make Hongbin think of something else, he plans to finally teach something he had promised all those months ago. He arrives in a little earlier and makes part of the room transform to a dance studio again. He even appears in some comfortable clothes for dancing. When Hongbin finally walks in, he welcomes him with a curtsey and a grin.

 

Hongbin is surprised for a while but then it seems to click. "Ah, we're doing this now? Almost forgot about it". He sashays over goofily, ending in his own version of a curtsey, giggling when he almost falls over. "Ok room, play me some ballet music." he says into nothing. To both their surprise, the room actually starts playing what Hakyeon recognises as a piece from the nutcracker.

 

"Well, that was a shot in the dark." Hongbin admits. "But it worked", Hakyeon adds, then gets into formation to show Hongbin the basics of ballet.

 

Hongbin is a fast learner. He is agile and flexible from playing Quidditch already, and with the right instructions his movements turn graceful soon. Not that things work right away, and Hongbin can't neither jump 3 metres high nor levitate after one class. But they laugh a lot, and admire each others work. They touch a lot as well, Hakyeon finding it easier to correct his form that way, and Hongbin lets him, even leans into the touches.

 

When they step out of the room later than normally, they hesitate to say goodbye.

 

"Well, good luck tomorrow. Not like you need it", Hakyeon teases, making Hongbin pout at him, a rare occurrence.

 

"Well", Hongbin starts, looking down. Fucking shuffles his feet, looking up again. "Thanks? Good night?"

 

Hakyeon doesn't know where it comes from, but he suddenly feels like kissing Hongbin's forehead, so he does exactly that. Pulls him closes and places a kiss squarely on his forehead. Hongbin looks slightly shocked.

 

"Yup. Good night", Hakyeon says happily turn around to make his way over towards the staircase. "Gross", Hongbin shouts after him, but when Hakyeon turns around, there's a huge smile on Hongbin's face, so Hakyeon blows him even more kisses, which Hongbin slaps away with an exaggeratedly disgusted expression.

 

*

 

As expected, Hongbin is playing well the next day, his whole team is. Hakyeon watches from the stands, his eyes on Hongbin most of the time, for which he's getting teased by Taekwoon and Hyuk, Wonsik had of course joined Jaewhan from where he's doing his commenting. But, eventually, even Taekwoon mutters a "damn he's good", after Hongbin defends his goalposts for the nth time. The snitch however takes its time to show up, and when it finally gets caught by the seeker, the game has been going on for more than four hours. But it was the Gryffindors seeker who catches it, and so, they actually manage to win with 400 to 0 points, which brings the whole school in a panic asking themselves if that might be a new record.

 

After the match, Hongbin must be exhausted, so Hakyeon lets him go to celebrate with his team, does shoot him a very excited thumbs up though, when Hongbin looks at him while being stormed by Gryffindors.

 

During the whole Sunday, Hakyeon only spots Hongbin during dinner, so he suspects he had slept the whole day. He also can't catch him after dinner, because he is still surrounded by excited Gryffindors, and seems to go back to the Gryffindor common room straight afterwards.

 

On Monday, he doesn't have a chance to talk to him either. They don't have any classes together, so he once again can only see him during meals. He's getting roped into a study session by Taekwoon and Jaewhan later, although the latter only complains about either not getting anything, and also being apart from his boyfriend.

 

The same thing repeats on Tuesday. However, Jaewhan manages to sneak Wonsik into their dorm room, so they end up getting even less done. When they finish, Hakyeon volunteers to accompany Wonsik back to the Gryffindor common room, in case someone finds him wandering, since it is already after curfew.

 

"How's Hongbin?", he can't help but ask when they're halfway there. Somehow, not having talked to him in almost four days feels very wrong. It almost feels like its been such a long time since they went that long without seeing each other.

 

"Funny you should ask", Wonsik answers. "He asked me how you were too. I said he should sneak into your dorm together with me, but he wasn't sure if you would be ok with it."

 

Hakyeon would have loved that actually, although students were not really supposed to go into each others dorms. Wonsik probably already guessed that, so he offers to send Hongbin out when he gets back. And Hakyeon is very glad he would do that for him, just hopes Hongbin has been able to rest enough after that match, he doesn't plan to just let him go back inside the common room after a few words.

 

And Wonsik really sends Hongbin out, who seems to be as thrilled as Hakyeon is. He takes Hakyeon by the hand and leads him towards the Room of Requirement. He doesn't change the rooms colours, pulls him down to sit so they share an armchair, Hakyeon half across Hongbin's lap.

 

Hongbin hides his face in Hakyeon's shoulder then, and squeezes his waist. "It's only been four days but I missed you so much", he admits, face still in Hakyeon's shoulder, as if he doesn't dare to actually look at him. Or he's shy. Hakyeon decides to tease later.

 

"I would rather have celebrated that win with you, I strongly believe you contributed to me being in great form a lot", he continues, finally looking up, right into Hakyeon's eyes. A cute blush is forming on his cheeks. "But now stop being a coward and kiss me for real", he demands with a pout, and Hakyeon can't help but indulge him.

 

When their lips meet, Hakyeon can't believe that its actually happening. He is kissing Lee Hongbin, Hogwarts heartthrob, the boy with the dimples who catches every single quaffle coming his way. Their first few kisses are shy and testing, mere touchings of the lips, then a little more pressure, Hakyeon's hands coming up to cup Hongbin's face. They smile widely when they part, though they don't part for long.

 

They don't really talk about it that evening, but eventually, they just fall asleep on the spot, in each others arms. Sleeping in this position might not have been the best idea, Hakyeon realises when he wakes up in the middle of the night, after realising where he is. Hongbin is still asleep under him. His face is beautiful, relaxed like this. He decides to carry him over to the bed and promptly falls back asleep when he lies down next to Hongbin afterwards.

 

Next time he stirs awake, Hongbin is awake and smiling at him.

 

"Good morning", he greets with a smile. He feels the urge to kiss him again, and what's stopping him? They had kissed enough last night to make it clear it should be ok now.

 

Hongbin seems to think they same, so they kiss for a while, ignoring morning breaths.

 

"Let's talk about it", Hongbin says then, making Hakyeon nervous but curious again.

 

"I've had a crush on you for a while. And after I realised how good you were at Quidditch but when you beat us last year it was game over for me. And I was very excited when we started talking, but I couldn't really read you in the beginning so I was so unsure what you want from this." He groans and hides his face in his hands. "This is so embarrassing, don't expect me to say anything disgusting like that again."

 

Hakyeon right out coos at this, pries Hongbin's hands from his face. "It's ok, I've liked you for more than two years probably, it's not embarrassing at all." he laughs, kissing Hongbin on the tip of his nose. "It's really cute actually."

 

"I'm not cute", Hongbin pouts. "Also love is disgusting, so don't expect me to stop making retching noises at Jaewhan and Wonsik. But I might make an exception for you."

 

Not that Hakyeon would have expected anything else. Hongbin always calls cute couple things gross, and he can probably live with it, it's endearing in a way.

 

"Let's just be gross together, does that work?", he proposes which makes Hongbin laugh. Instead of replying, he leans over again, kissing Hakyeon for some more.

 

Eventually, they realise they should check the time and they're luckily early enough to get some breakfast before they have classes. They promise to each other that they won't wait four days again before they speak again, so they meet in the afternoon to study, and they do so every day from then on. They don't hide, and they get joined by their friends some time.

 

Hongbin is not really ready yet, to walk through the corridors while holding hands, but Hakyeon wouldn't expect something like that from him anyway.

 

They watch the Slytherin versus Ravenclaw match together from the stands, and Hakyeon is not needed, luckily. The team does well, but unfortunately they lose in the end, although very closely. And even though there's still two matches left later in the term, Gryffindor is clearly in the lead with the 400 points they had scored last match, but Hakyeon is not too sad, rather very excited. Quidditch has always been a thing he likes and is good at, but he has never been that excited about it as Hongbin is, so he just settles to be happy for his behalf.

 

*

 

The following months go by fast. Hakyeon and Hongbin see each other almost every single day, and the student body slowly realises that they are dating, and when it finally is completely clear to everyone, the school gets into an excited panic. It's a love story of two popular top students, the head boy and the successful Quidditch captain, who never had much to do with each other until the whole school thought they should hate each other after that one match.

 

Hakyeon sure does get some mean side eyes from some girls that had clearly been Hongbin's fan and admirers, but then Hongbin reports that he gets those as well, although Hakyeon hadn't even known that he had admirers. But altogether, people are excited to see them together, and so they become the most popular couple at school.

 

On some days, Hongbin will suddenly hold his hand when walking through the corridors. Sometimes he will do it and use the disillusionment charm so no one can actually see it, but sometimes he won't. He opens up more to Hakyeon and shows his weak moments with him again. One time he hides in Hakyeon's arms, crying, because his parents just keep ignoring his letters. Hakyeon holds him then, hoping with him, that things might work out one day.

 

At the end of the term, Gryffindor wins the Quidditch cup after destroying Hufflepuff in the last match, and Hakyeon is being a proud boyfriend. Hakyeon and Hongbin pass their NEWTs with the highest grades possible. And while Hongbin still refuses to do too much PDA, when they get their graduation pictures taken, Hakyeon suddenly feels Hongbin's lips on his cheek, and so, a memory of his last, busiest, but also happiest year at Hogwarts is preserved forever.

 

 

*

 

Who is the man that stole Britain's new keeper Lee Hongbin's heart?

Written by Lee Jaewhan

 

Lee Hongbin takes Britain's hearts by storm, as he joins the national Quidditch team only three years after graduating from Hogwarts. Lee has played professionally for the Wimbourne Wasps ever since he graduated. Fans of the team call themselves stingers, but the biggest _stinger_ might be a man who has stayed in the background until just recently. While it was known to fellow students that Lee started dating Hogwarts then head boy Cha Hakyeon back in their last year of school, the public has only heard of Cha since he has made a name for himself this year.

Cha is the recent addition to the British Magical Ballet, enchanting thousands of wizards and witches with his excellent dancing skills. Cha's family is wizard nobility, an old bloodline that was traced back by Cha's infamous aunt, claiming they were descendants of legendary witch Circe. But seeing Cha's magical abilities, a blood line coming straight from the Greek Gods might not even seem that impossible.

But as the Cha family prestige seems to climb, it hasn't been looking good for Lee's family. An outrageous article about Lee's mother (Witch admits she wanted son to be a squib (January issue) and Witch who wanted son to be a squib revealed to be none other than mother of Wimbourne Wasps keeper Lee Hongbin (February issue)) kept the wizard world in uproar earlier this year. The backlash was enormous, getting Mrs Lee fired from her job at the ministry of magic. Whether all the angry letters sent to her house – the onslaught of owls even alarmed the muggles – have been able to change her mind stays unknown. Lee himself has refused to comment on the topic but insiders reveal that he's been trying to repair his parents relationship to each other and to himself for several years now.

We hope that Cha can help him through those hard times, and of course to also see his presence at the upcoming European Quidditch cup. Lee has been sighted training hard with the national team in the meantime. We wish the couple and the team all the luck in the future.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [ Mutual Limb Enclosure credit ](https://twitter.com/nathanwpyle/status/1100427317560700935)
> 
>  
> 
> Also, you can talk to me on twitter [here](https://twitter.com/NLeeLia)!


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